Tiger Woods vs. Padraig Harrington: Enough About The Clock Already

There is perhaps no clock in the world right now, other than possibly Big Ben, more famous than the stop watch John Paramor was holding in his hand on the 16th hole on Sunday afternoon at Firestone Country Club.

For those of you who haven’t turned on a television, picked up a newspaper, or logged onto a website since Sunday, Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock by rules official, John Paramor, on the 16th hole of the final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

At the time, Harrington was holding a one-stroke lead over Woods with just three holes to play.

At the time, Woods and Harrington were also nearly an entire hole behind the group in front of them.

Harrington went on to make an eight on the hole and there has been outrage ever since.

How could the rules official possibly put Harrington and Woods on the clock when they were the final pairing of the day and involved in an intense battle that’s so very rare whenever Tiger Woods is in the mix?

Well they, are referred to as ‘rules officials’ for a reason—they are there to enforce the rules.

The rules of the game do not differ for Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington, and the rules do not differ for those players who happen to be in the final pairing of the day.

How could the rules officials, and particularly John Paramor, possibly address questions from those players who were put on the clock earlier in the day when they stood by and allowed Woods and Harrington to fall well behind the group ahead of them without being put on the clock?

Woods and Harrington might have separated themselves from the field and might have been involved in an intense and very entertaining battle, but, what about all those players who may have been put on the clock earlier in the day?

Sure, the players who were put on the clock earlier on the day may not have had a legitimate opportunity to win the tournament, but being put on the clock could have cost them several strokes and thus a large amount of money.

The fact of the matter is that no matter how much fans were enjoying the Woods vs. Harrington battle, it doesn’t mean that a separate set of rules should be created for those two players or for that particular situation.

The rules about speed of play are clear and were enforced on Sunday afternoon not because they felt like picking on Harrington and Woods, but because there’s nothing in the rule book that explicitly lays out a different set of rules for the final pairing.

On the clock or not on the clock is beside the point and completely irrelevant at the end of the day.

Padraig Harrington was not the only one put on the clock on the 16th hole; Tiger Woods was also put on the clock.

Harrington hit a terrible layup shot on the par-five while Woods laid up to a perfect location for his approach shot.

Harrington hit his approach shot clear over the green while Woods stuck an eight-iron to less than two-feet from the hole.

Then, to top it all off, Harrington skulled his chip shot clear over the green and into the water which ultimately led to a score of eight on the hole.

Same set of rules and same situation for each player—Woods gets it done and Harrington doesn’t.

That folks is the big story about what transpired on the 16th hole on Sunday evening at Firestone and not some rules official’s stop watch.